Snow means sledding fun, but officials want public safe

Vincent Townsend, of Bainbridge, pushes his daughter, Grace, down the floodwall in the Yoctangee Park Annex to take advantage of last month’s snowfall. The floodwall along the annex is one of the popular sledding sites in Chillicothe.(Photo: Gazette file photo)Buy Photo

CHILLICOTHE – The Presidents Day holiday and a winter storm have offered children in Chillicothe a couple of days off school with enough snowfall to provide an opportunity to go sledding — raising the question of what potential liabilities the city could face if mishaps were to happen on city property.

Mayor Jack Everson said Monday that the city has property and liability coverage through the Public Entities Pool of Ohio, which provides insurance to public entities across the state.

It’s a fact worth noting, as there has been a growing movement among municipalities across the country to ban sledding in city parks since a lawsuit filed against the city of Circleville as the result of a sledding injury.

The incident took place in 2006 when 18-year-old Jeremy Pauley struck a railroad tie when sledding on city property, breaking his neck and paralyzing him.

Pauley’s mother claimed that city had “acted negligently, recklessly and wantonly in dumping debris in the park, which resulted in a physical defect that caused Jeremy’s injuries,” according to a column written by Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul Pfeifer.

“The complaint alleged that ‘waste and debris ... created an inherently dangerous situation which no user of the park could have anticipated and thus substantially altered the natural and characteristic of the public property,’” Pfeifer wrote. “The trial court concluded — without a trial — that Circleville was immune from the lawsuit because of the recreational-user immunity law. The court of appeals affirmed that judgment, after which the case came before us.”

The state Supreme Court, by a 5-2 vote, upheld Circleville’s immunity from liability.

Even so, municipalities are becoming ever more wary of the possibility of litigation tied to sledding injuries and, rather than run the risk, have taken to banning the activity altogether on city property.

Everson said he is not aware of any sledding mishaps occurring on city property during his term as mayor. He is urging the public to take necessary safety precautions to make sure that continues to be the case.